‘Sonicsgate’ documentary to be nationally televised

As Seattle starts making a bid for a new NBA team, the country is beginning to take notice again. Three years after its release online, and four years after the SuperSonics left town for Oklahoma City, the local documentary “Sonicsgate: Requiem for a Team” is being updated and nationally televised this month.

CNBC has bought the rights, for a year, to broadcast the acclaimed documentary. It will air at 7 p.m. Friday, April 27, and at 7 p.m. Sunday, April 29, on CNBC.

Fimmakers Jason Reid and Adam Brown took the opportunity to update the film with new photos, footage and evidence, and have added interviews with Sonics legend Shawn Kemp and Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament. After its release directly to the Web in 2009, “Sonicsgate” was named the “Most Persuasive Grassroots Flick of 2009” by Sports Illustrated and won the 2010 Webby Award for best sports film.

“Sonicsgate” follows the years-long controversy of the Sonics’ departure, examining “how a perfect storm of corporate greed and political impotence caused Seattle’s 41-year NBA team to be ripped away in 2008,” as the filmmakers put it. The film includes interviews with such local figures as Sonics star Gary Payton, writer Sherman Alexie and broadcaster Kevin Calabro.